Modeling and simulation of thoracic region of spine

Abstract

The models employed in all aspects of science and engineering have grown increasingly complex, in order to allow them to capture more and more details of the systems that they are representing. Each spine is unique and reacts in a slightly different way than all other spines. Therefore, in order to study the dynamics of the spine, it is necessary to develop a model of the spine that is general enough to encompass the possible variations in form and function, but specific enough to react, under loading and stress, realistically. The aim of this paper is to model the thoracic region of the spine through bond graph modeling taking into consideration its physical correspondence with the system. In this work, a bond graph model of twelve elements for thoracic vertebrae has been modeled. This study presents an elemental model of the T1- T12 in a sequential way. Besides this, different postures of the spine have been considered for modeling. The strength of the muscle and intervertebral fluid has been modeled by considering eleven spring mass damper system between the elemental masses. © 2012 Springer India Pvt. Ltd.